Improvement in ditching and tile-laying machines



H. CRITCHET. DITCHI NG AND TILE-LAYING MJWHIN'E.

Patentei Feb. 22,1876.

UNITED STATES PATENT QFFICE.

MATTHEW H. ORITOHET, OF NEWAY, OHIO.

IMPROVEMENT IN DITCHING AND TILE-LAYING MACHINES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent N 0. 173,91 1, datedFebruary 22, 1876; application filed January 10, 1876.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, M. H. (JRITQHET, ofNeway, in the county of Licking and State of Ohio, have invented certainnew and useful Improvements in Ditching and Tile-Laying Machines, and Ido hereby declare that. the following is a full, clear, and exactdescription thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings,and to the letters of reference marked thereon, which form part of thisspecification.

The nature of my invention consists in certain improvements on theDitching and Tile- Laying Machine for which Letters Patent No. 156,451were granted to me November 3, 1874, as will be hereinafter more fullyset forth.

In order to enable others skilled in the art to which my inventionappertains to make and use the same, I will now proceed to describe itsconstruction and operation, referring to the annexed drawing, in WhichFigure 1 is a side elevation. Fig. 2 is a plain view; and Fig. 3 is adetail of my invention.

A is the plow-beam, with clevis B and top frame 0. D is the plow, and EG I the colters, all

constructed and arranged substantially in the manner described in myformer patent, above referred to. The tile-tube in my former machine wasmade a part of or rigidly secured to the back end of the plow, which wasfound to be objectionable for various reasons, but more especiallybecause it made the plow necessarily so long that it was with dificultyit could turn in the ditch. To obviate this difficulty, I now make itseparate, and form the tile tube H with a shoe or runner, J, which has ahook, at, at its front end to connect with a vertical rod, b, at therear end of the plow, and thus forminga joint between the plow andtile-tube which allows them to turn any curves or bends in the ditch. dd are the tile-guides within the tube H, forming the sides of the tube,which guides are provided with inwardprojecting ears 0 e, slotted andfastened with screws 11 i, by which means the guides may be adjustedcloser together or farther apart as required for the thickness or sizeof the tile. Under the beam A, in front of the plow D, is a shoe, K,provided with two vertical standards L L, suitably braced, and passingup, one on each side of the plow-beam, and hay'ing a lever, M, pivotedbetween its upper ends. The front end of this lever is by a short chain,f, connected with a hook, w, on the top of the clevis B. By this meansthe plow can be raised or lowered so as to run on top of soft or muddyground, and to grade the ground which is not smooth, and keep the plowon the grade. Behind the machine is a sled or tender, N, which answersto put the tile on, and also for a man to sit on to feed the tile intothe tile-tube. The runners of the sled are made wider apart at the frontend than at the rear, so as to scrape the loose dirt into the ditch. Theshoe K and sled N are connected by rods m m to the frame 0 on top of theplow-beam.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new, anddesire to secure by Letters Patent, is

The combination, with a ditching-plow, A D, of the tile-tube H, hingedto the rear of the plow, the sled N, shoe K, with standards L and leverM, all constructed and arranged substantially as and for the purposesherein setforth.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I affix my signaturein presence of two witnesses.

MATTHEW HARNY (JRITOHE'I.

Witnesses:

T. H. GRAVES, S G. DE GROW.

